Denisovan

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/denisovan

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Denisovan?Denisova Cave, Altai Mountains, Siberia
2. What is the type of hominin?An extinct archaic human species or subspecies
3. Who were the Denisovans?They were an ancient group of humans that lived long ago. Scientists learned about them mainly from a finger bone and a few teeth found in a cave in Siberia, and from the DNA that was preserved in those bones.
4. How did scientists learn about Denisovans?Scientists found a finger bone and teeth in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains. The cold Siberian climate kept the DNA alive, so researchers could read the Denisovan genome.

Paleogenetics: The study of ancient DNA to understand the evolution of past organisms.
Hominin Lineage: The evolutionary path or branch that includes humans and their extinct ancestors.
Gene Flow: The transfer of genetic material from one population to another.
Adaptive Introgression: The transfer of beneficial genes from one species to another through hybridization.